Liquid fuel burner



Jan. 17, 1939. J. E. GOVONI 1 2,144,052

LIQUID FUEL BURNER Filed Oct. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l var-m g I: E

' INVENTOR Jan 17, 1939. I J. E. GOVQNI V 2,144,052

LIQUID FUEL BURNER Filed Oct. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTgR u 01/0724 *2/25? Patented Jan. 17, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 8,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to liquid fuel burners of the type which comprises a series of concentrically disposed chimneys mounted on a base having annular channels for the liquid fuel, and wicks in the channels between the chimneys. Such burners are often used in household cooking ranges or in heaters for various purposes. When the fuel-impregnated wicks are first lighted and at other times during use, the combustion of the fuel is not always complete, and the result is a large and rapid deposition of carbon on the chimneys and in and about the channels. To insure efficient combustion it is therefore frequently necessary to clean out the burner and remove the deposited carbon cake. Heretofore the construction of the burner has made thorough cleaning very difficult with the result that either an expert must be called in to dismantle the burner and clean it or else the burner is operated under inefficient and possibly dangerous conditions. Troubles of this character have prevented the use of oil burners with complete satisfaction by users in general.

I have discovered that it is possible to provide removable wick-holding rings in the base of the burner with many resulting advantages. For example, the rings may act as shields to prevent deposition of carbon cake upon the body of the base. Further, they may act as receptacles for such carbon as is formed and may be conveniently removed for cleaning without disturbing the adjustment of the burner as a whole. The rings may further be designed to form vaporizing chambers in the base and to deliver vaporized fuel for combustion in jets above the wicks. Still further, the rings serve to improve combustion by supplying a substantial body of hot metal adjacent to the zone of combustion.

In one aspect, my invention comprises a novel burner construction whereby the chimneys are sealed in place by removable rings, thereby preventing lateral emission of flames or smoke.

An important feature of my invention is the novel fuel supply system. which functions without the use of separate ducts or conduits within the burner assembly.

Another feature of my invention consists in a ring having inclined passages for vapor whereby vaporized fuel is emitted as a series of jets directly above the wick.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which,

1937, Serial No. 167,957

Fig. 1 is a view partly in cross section of a burner constructed according to my invention, the rings being shown in the left hand half only.

Fig. 2 is a view in plan of one half of the burner, the rings being shown in the left hand portion only.

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section of the outer removable ring, and

Fig. 4 is a view in cross section of the inner removable ring. I

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the burner comprises a hollow tubular supporting standard Ill provided at its lower end with an attaching flange ll having bolts or screws by which the assembly may be leveled and fastened in place to any suitable frame (not shown). The standard H) is also provided with a series of air inlet holes l2. Held in place by a screw I3 is a disk-shaped base or casting M which is apertured to receive the standard III. In the base it are circular integral vertical walls I5, I6, and l! which define annular concentric channels or oil reservoirs l8 and IS. The intermediate wall It is apertured vertically throughout the greater portion of its length, to provide air passages, and the channels l8 and I9 are interconnected by a horizontal aperture 20' in the wall l6. Adjacent to the aperture 20 and in the bottom of the channel I8 is an opening 2| which leads into a transverse passage 22 in the base M. The passage 22 is adapted to receive a valve or plug (not shown) in its outer open end and is connected to a fuel tank by a pipe 23 threaded into the bottom of the base H.

An annular grooved ring 24 (see Fig. 3) is designed to fit with clearance into the channel l8 and comprises an outer wall 25, a bottom wall 26, and an inner wall 21. The outer wall 25 and the inner wall 21 are provided at their upper edges with overhanging flanges 28 and 29 which engage the tops of the walls 15 and I6 respectively, when the ring 24 is placed in position in the burner assembly. A series of horizontal apertures 30 is located in each of the walls 25 and 2! near the bottoms thereof, and inclined vapor passages 3| are placed in the upper edges of the walls 25 and 21. When the ring 24 is suspended in the channel 18 by its flanges 28 and 29, a space is left between the bottom 26 of the ring 24 and the bottom of the channel l8.' Likewise, spaces are left between the side walls 25 and 21 of the ring and the side walls l5 and [6 of the channel 18, while the bottom spaces serve as constant level fuel reservoirs. An annular corrugated wick 32 55 of asbestos or other suitable material is loosely disposed in the ring 24 in vertical position.

On the wall I5 is an upstanding integral flange 33 which is thinner than the wall [5 but flush with the outer surface thereof. The flange 28 of the ring 24 rests on the upper edge of the wall i5 adjacent to but spaced from the flange 33. A cylindrical perforated chimney 34 rests with its lower edge on the upper edge of the wall I5 in the space between the flanges 33 and 28. Similar chimneys 35 and 36 rest with their lower edges on the upper edge of the wall it on each side of a flange 3? and are sealed in position by the flange 29 of the ring 24 and the flange 45 of the ring 39. A small chimney 33 is also sealed on the wall I! by the flange 49 of the ring 39.

As may be seen in Fig. 4, the inner ring 39 is precisely similar to the outer ring 24, although considerably smaller in diameter. The ring 39 comprises channel forming side walls 49 and 4| and bottom wall 42. In the walls 40 and 4! are inlet holes 43 for liquid fuel and passages 44 for vaporized fuel. The walls 49 and 4| are provided with integral overhanging flanges 45 and 49. The several elements of the ring 39 function exactly as the corresponding elements of the ring 24, including the wick 41. The portion of the base M which lies between the wall i! and the standard I0 is provided with several holes 48.

I shall now describe the operation of my burner. Generally, oil is used as the fuel in such burners, although I do not wish to be limited to the use of oil as a fuel. The liquid fuel enters the conduit 23 and the passage 22, from which point it rises through the aperture 2! into the reservoir between the bottom of the channel l8 and the wall 29 of the ring 24. It then flows through the hole 29 into the reservoir in the channel l9 below the ring 39. When the fuel has reached a predetermined height in the reservoirs it passes through the holes 39 into the ring 24 and surrounds the wick 32. Similarly, it flows through the holes 43 into the ring 39 and surrounds the wick 41. The wicks draw the fuel upwardly by capillary attraction until each wick is substantially saturated, at which time the burner is ready to be lighted. When the wicks are ignited, hot flames are immediately generated, the metal of the rings 24 and 39 heats rapidly, and the fuel in the reservoirs begins to vaporize. The vapor thus formed rises in the channels I 8 and i9 along the sides of the rings 24 and 39 and escapes through the inclined passages 3! and 44. The height of the wicks is made slightly less than the depth of the rings 24 and 39 so that the inclined passages emit vapor in jets just above the wicks. When this happens, flames are generated in the zone above the wick and part of the fuel is burned when in the form of vapor, a type of combustion infinitely more efficient than the burning of fuel when in entirely liquid form. Air is obtained for the outer chimney 34, from the outside of the burner through the perforations in the chimney. The apertures in the wall l6 supply air to the chimneys 35 and 36, while the holes 48 in the base I4 and the holes 12 in the standard It) supply air for the innermost chimney 38.

Since the rings 24 and 39 shield the walls of the channels I8 and I9, the combustion of the fuel deposits no carbon in the channels but only on the inner surfaces of the walls of the rings, 24 and 39. When the carbon deposits have become substantial, the chimneys and the rings may be lifted out bodily and the latter cleaned. It should be noted that the fuel inlet holes 30 and 43 are provided in the sides of the rings 24 and 39 rather than in the bottoms thereof. Such a location prevents carbon from falling through the inlet holes and fouling the bottom Walls of the channels [8 and I9.

When the fuel line is closed by manipulation of a valve, (not shown), the fuel in the rings 24 and 39 continues to burn until the level sinks below the bottom of the rings, the supply to the wicks is shut oh", and the flames cease. A supply of fuel is thus left in the burner in the channels. In burners heretofore the wicks rested on the bottom of the channels and the dying flames would follow the fuel line as long as sufiicient oxygen was supplied. The result was that the fuel inlet gradually became choked with carbon deposited each time the burner was shut off. By arranging the rings so that the flames cease before the fuel level sinks into the inlet conduit, I seal the fuel supply line and prevent the deposition of carbon therein.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A liquid fuel burner comprising a base having a series of annular shouldered walls forming channels, a plurality of rings removably suspended in said channels and provided with wickholding grooves, wicks in each of said grooves, and a plurality of cylindrical perforated chimneys disposed on the shoulders of said annular walls and held there by said rings.

2. A liquid fuel burner comprising a base having shouldered annular walls forming a channel, a ring removably suspended in said channel and having a groove for a Wick, a wick in said groove, and a cylindrical perforated chimney held in place on the shoulder of one of said annular walls by said ring.

3- A liquid fuel burner comprising a base having a channel formed by annular walls internally shouldered to provide annular recesses, a ring suspended in said channel and having a groove for a wick, annular external flanges integral with the ring and fitting in said annular recesses, and cylindrical chimneys held in place on the shoulders of said annular walls by said flanges.

JOHN E. GOVONI. 

